“(PATIENT) Would you be comfortable sharing with me the name of the conditions you have diagnosed me with and the results and treatments you have provided to me?

(HEALTHCARE PROVIDER) …um… er no.

(PATIENT) If you shared my info with anyone else or messaged any colleagues would you share with me the name of these people/companies?

(HEALTHCARE PROVIDER) …no I would choose not to do that.

(PATIENT) I think that might be what this is all about. Your right to withhold information relating to my care. The limits of your rights and how much I’m having to give away in order to ‘get healthcare services that I am ultimately paying for’. The question I want answered is what information is the healthcare system collecting on me, who are they sending it to and whether they’ve ever asked me in advance for my permission to do that? Is that a fair thing for a user of healthcare services to expect?”